Jackal's Dance

by Beverley Harper

'Twelve pairs of eyes watched the Land Rovers leave ... Once the tourists were out of sight, their leader rose and gestured that the others should follow. Their destination lay thirteen kilometres to the east - Logans Island Lodge.' As the last guests of summer are welcomed to a luxury lodge in Etosha National Park, Namibia, thoughts are predominantly on the three-month break ahead.Camping in the park nearby, Professor Eben Kruger has his work cut out keeping the attention of the university students in his charge on the behavioural habits of the cunning jackal. Not one could ever be prepared for the horrendous events about to take place.Each will be pushed to breaking point as the quest for survival becomes the only thing that matters.

Genres: Fiction, Africa

Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Beverley Harper was born in Bulli on the New South Wales south coast. In 1967 she travelled to Africa, intending to spend one year there. She stayed twenty, returning to settle in Australia in 1988. Despite loving the northern tablelands, the memories of Africa have provided the inspiration for her best-selling novels and she visited that continent for research purposes once a year.

Beverley Harper died of cancer in 2002. She rests at peace in the Africa she so loved. Her ashes lay by the Boteti River in Botswana, below a lodge called Leroo-la-Tau. It means footprints of lion.

She left a draft of her final novel, Footprints of Lion, which was lovingly completed by her husband, Robert Harper, and Peter Watt.

Reviews

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the way the author set about describing each of the characters and then how she built them up through the story. To me the book was more about how they all grew and coped with the stressful situation.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable but got a bit long winded

[Sal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining but I found the writing style a little clunky.

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book while I was in Africa and although it terrified me, I loved it :)

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite a fast paced read. The story is about a group of people from a game lodge in Africa who are taken by a terrorist group. It spends the first half of the book introducing you to the characters (plus a rogue elephant) before the action really starts.

This book is quite violent in places so trigger warnings for violent death and sexual assault. All up though it was a good read and one I would recommend to others (but not anyone about to travel to Africa).

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a page turner with well established characters and a drama-filled plot line. I believe the author is Australian and, I’m afraid to say, her bias was clearly evident in the way she wrote about the African characters. The ending was shmaltzy and probably could have been left out. All in all it’s a really gripping, old-school thriller.

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such BEAUTIFUL character development. Beverley Harper is new to my reading but has quickly become my new favorite author.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely worth a read for anyone who has visited Etosha park in Namibia. Whodunit, passion, big game, African cultures. The author is maybe a bit too head on; nothing is left to imagination. Even so, the tale is directly rendered without turning from harder realities and is pretty gripping. Long book but a quick read.

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story kept me engaged from beginning to end. It had a bit of everything I like to read about, murder, suspense, romance, action and adventure. I got a real feel for the characters and environment, Beverley's style of writing makes you feel like you are there!

[Rosiebrennan20 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good book with many different aspects to it, romance, murder, african wildlife.

[Tina86 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, could not put it down. It had everything, action,
suspense, romance and adventure.

I strongly recommend but not for the faint hearted (some distrubing
events occur).

[Alayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very exciting book which I have continued to think about since I finished it. Lots of drama, some romance and set in Namibia in Africa which I knew very little about. Loved it.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great storyline as is expected from Beverley Harper. Thoroughly enjoyed.

[Sharon Bracken]

Really enjoyed this book.. I liked the way the author introduced me to each character.
Made me feel like I was more attached to the characters.
And she didn't leave me hanging with the story of what happened to each character